Blake Abene, who started as Stella's pastry chef two weeks ago, can thank his genes for determining his place in the kitchen.

"If it were up to me, I'd be a savory chef," Abene said. "But I'm allergic to seafood. Nothing in pastry is going to kill me."

Until last March, Abene was the pastry chef at Corton, a celebrated New York restaurant that was led by chef Paul Liebrandt. It was awarded two Michelin stars.

Abene started at Corton as a chef de partie in 2010. Before that he spent three years at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant Jean-Georges.

Six months after arriving at Corton, Abene was promoted to the sous pastry chef under Shawn Gawle, who Food and Wine magazine named one of its 2012 best new chefs. When Gawle departed Corton for San Francisco in September 2012, Abene took over the restaurant's dessert program.

Abene grew up in Hammond. He and his fiancée, fellow pastry chef Stephanie Alexander, were ready for a change.

"We'd done what we went to New York for," Abene said. "Eventually we want to start a family, and New York is not the place for that."

View full sizeOne of pastry chef Blake Abene's new desserts at Stella combines the flavors of apple, coffee and anise.

At Stella, Abene already has begun to rebuild the restaurant's desserts. A recent creation combines the flavors of coffee, apple and anise into a plate that looks like a modern sculpture.

"My inspiration behind it," he said, "was eating an apple fritter with a cup of coffee in the morning. That's what motivates me: nostalgia and memory."

If the flavors are familiar, then Abene feels free to experiment with texture, shape and composition.

"You eat first with your eyes," he said.

So far, Abene and his Michigan-raised fiancée are settling in well to New Orleans. Life here is even better than they expected.

"When I moved from here, the coffee and bakery situation wasn't great," he said. "Since we've come back, there is really good coffee and really good bakeries. That was the stuff that I was afraid I'd miss from New York."